The brackets are back, baby! “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” is back for another installment and season 11 promises to capitalize and improve on the wildly popular season 10. The new format for “All Stars” has been lauded by fans, critics, and queens alike because it allows for queens to stay longer and show off their goods. Gone are the days of queens preparing season-long packages only to be cut in the first two episodes.
Spoilers ahead!
Alliances For Everybody
The season kicks off strong with this first episode bringing back Lucky Starzzz, A’keria C. Davenport, Dawn, Morphine Love Dion, Mystique Summers, and Morgan McMichaels in the orange bracket (Bracket 1). It’s very clever of the producers to put Morphine/Dawn and Morgan/Mystique in the same bracket considering their pasts. A simple girl group challenge promised to stir up some of that old drama and also trigger several imposter syndromes.
Let’s talk about episode 1’s highlights.
The Entrance
“All Stars” does the entrance reveal a little differently and, genuinely, I prefer the Werk Room entrances versus the queens coming out on the main stage, but I get that they want to showcase the all star queens a little differently.
- Morphine’s entrance outfit being a cunty, bedazzled interpretation of A Bug’s Life’s Francis the Ladybug is an iconic callback to the fandom meme comparing her to the insect. She looks absolutely stunning in it and the mug is always right.
- Lucky wore her trademark conceptual, art-project pieces this time in the shape of a giant star. It’s interesting to look at, but we’ve seen this style on her before, so here’s hoping she’s got more than this in her arsenal.
- Mystique’s outfit is pretty but boring and her makeup with those contacts look fucking crazy.
- Morgan’s exaggerated 80s look is absolutely glamorous in a bitchy businesswoman kind of way. She really knows her brand, which makes her exciting to watch.
- Dawn’s all pink outfit is incredible, like a futuristic alien Erté dream. I’m very hyped to see all her runways this season. I hope she makes it all the way to the finale.
- A’keria looks fabulous in a structured white jeweled gown and her body is always incredible.
The Drama
This episode really was about setting up drama that might happen in the next episode. The edit establishes pretty early on that Morphine and Lucky aren’t the best of friends (their confessionals proved that), but they tentatively agree to an alliance anyway. Then Dawn gets Morphine alone and they tentatively agree on an alliance. Lucky isn’t stupid and can see how close Morphine and Dawn are, while the latter two are being especially shady about Lucky. It may not be full-blown drama yet, but it has the whispers of it. Which alliance will Morphine honor? Will this be another Mistress Isabelle Brooks betrayal situation?
Then we have Mystique frequently referencing the “Untucked” fight she had with Morgan all the way back in season two. The two veterans seem friendly, but they had some tension during the choreography planning that smells like a potential blow-up later on.
The Challenge
RuPaul tasks the girls with writing and recording their own songs, choreographing their own parts, and pulling a performance together for ‘Break Dancin’ 2: Electric Rugaloo,’ which is a hilariously stupid name.
- A’keria kicks it off with a pretty good verse and outfit, but it did not top her “Where is body?” lyrics from when she was on season 11.
- Dawn really killed her verse and performance, surprisingly. She’s very good at clever wordplay, but she actually held her own with the dancing.
- Lucky did fine. That’s it.
- Morgan also did fantastic with a flip off a box on stage and an actually decent rap verse. This challenge theme was made for Morgan’s aesthetic honestly.
- “He said, ‘I’m straight,’ I said, ‘Not toniiiight.’” Morphine’s lyrics and performance was the most memorable to me. She ate this up. I’ll remember that lyric for the rest of my life.
- Mystique’s outfit is insane and not in a good way. It’s a bedazzled tracksuit that a gay uncle would wear. The hair is great, though.
The Runway
In honor of the guest judge, La Toya Jackson, category is: La Toyas ‘R’ Us. Overall, this was an interesting category. Almost every queen chose a La Toya look from her stint at Moulin Rouge, so everything had a very showgirl feel. This probably won’t go down as one of the memorable runways, but it was fun to watch.
- A’keria looked astounding in a gold and black La Toya-inspired gown with a giant bow. It’s dragged up with everything sequined and her hair being ENORMOUS. And she made it herself!
- Dawn looked incredible in an orange, Moulin Rouge-inspired look that mimicked what La Toya wore, but so elevated and Vegas showgirl-esque. The feathered fans are a dream, which feels like her vibe this season.
- Lucky’s La Toya look was cute, but her makeup was very unfortunate. She still can’t paint a pretty, non-cosplay face.
- Morgan’s outfit was almost an exact replica of what La Toya wore in Moulin Rouge. It looked good, but it didn’t feel special or unique like Dawn or A’keria.
- Morphine’s look is incredible, but it’s kind of wearing her. You could never fault her mug though; it’s always on point.
- Mystique’s outfit is underwhelming. Why does she wear those black lace tights with her looks? It takes the audience out of the fantasy.
The Guest
La Toya Jackson, Ru’s bestie, is the guest of honor and judge for this episode. There’s no guest judge Ru loves more than her. She has made many appearances throughout the years and is always so charming with kind things to say. Even her critiques are softened by her light voice and sweetness. She, unlike me, was very impressed with Morgan’s direct replica, so what do I know?
The Winner
The top three end up being Morphine, Morgan, and Dawn, which isn’t surprising at all. All of their runways and performances were miles above the rest. The top two queens who lip sync for the extra point are Morgan and Dawn. The biggest change for this season from season 10 is that this time only two queens from each bracket will move forward, instead of three. This shocked the queens earlier in the episode and upped the stakes.
Both queens approached the lip sync very differently. Dawn came at it very sultry and seductive, which was smart because it showed off her incredibly sexy outfit and amplified her best moves. Morgan went classic with high-energy movements reminiscent of the 80s era that’s a part of her brand. Morgan got more laughs from Ru, so she takes the win here, although Dawn felt like the true winner to me.
The Untucking
“Untucked” is often hit-or-miss, but there were some delightful tidbits that happened. Here’s some highlights from the episode:
- Mystique has mentioned her and Morgan’s iconic fight more than Morgan has. It’s her only claim to fame while Morgan has been a Drag Race staple for awhile. I think she’s aware that she may have only been cast on this season because of Morgan’s presence and is using that.
- Mystique seems very chill about her critiques and A’keria is not impressed with her lack of fire. This doesn’t bode well for Mystique getting any points from her fellow queens.
- Lucky’s unsure if she can trust Dawn and Morphine, meanwhile they’re plotting to give her the extra point if one of them doesn’t end up in the top.
- La Toya joins the girls and admires Dawn’s turtleneck boob plate.
A’keria: And if you lift it, a lot of water will fall out.
The girls: *laughs*
La Toya: Oh, because she’s perspiring.
This was the most amusing moment in the entire episode. La Toya is unintentionally (or not?) funny as hell.
Final Thoughts
What a fun start to “All Stars 11,” with alliance drama brewing, past fights bubbling back up, and the dynamic of the veteran queens versus the modern era queens making this first bracket very entertaining. These six queens seem to gel well together, but that’ll definitely change once the points start being passed out. Dawn and Morgan are in the lead, with Morphine close behind, the orange bracket is off to a fiery start.
Season 11 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” and “Untucked” streams weekly on Fridays on Paramount+.
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